


Red

by tatertotarmy



Category: Dragon Age (Video Games), Dragon Age: Inquisition
Genre: F/F
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-04-03
Updated: 2015-04-03
Packaged: 2018-03-21 00:58:03
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,966
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3671625
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/tatertotarmy/pseuds/tatertotarmy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Lace Harding, along with an entourage of other scouts, has been assigned to collect some materials for something Dagna is working on for the Commander. Based on the Samson questline.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Red

**Author's Note:**

  * For [tanyart](https://archiveofourown.org/users/tanyart/gifts).



Lace knelt at the mouth of the cave, peering into the darkness with a sharp eye. The orders had been simple: scout out the mine to make sure that nothing had wandered in after the Inquisitor had cleaned it out. While nobody had been too concerned with the enemy’s possible return, the Commander was careful about this particular operation. Lace knew better than to question just what sort of crazy things were happening up top, especially when Dagna seemed to be involved, but she knew enough to tell when things were important.

A smirk crossed her face when she remembered the quirky little dwarf bouncing from one scout to the next with specific instructions: what to retrieve, what not to touch, and _especially_ what constituted as a _usable_ shard of lyrium and a shard that was _’too small for even the stone to find useful’_. Lace could barely even keep up with the quick words when Dagna finally made her way to the dwarven scout. With a mouth like that, Lace was surprised that Dagna spent most of her time underground with only a grumpy blacksmith for company.

A flash of red flickered into her eyes, and in a flash Lace shot an arrow at the intruder. A body fell against the stone, and Lace saw another scout wander in to check the cave further in. As the scout vanished into the black, light traced one part of the body she shot. A gaunt face revealed itself, pale from lack of sunlight with splotches of grey speckling the forehead. Dark circles surrounded his skin and the cracks of his lips seemed black as night, unnatural. Across his right cheek, barely contained in the shadow of his cheek, was a strip of red lyrium fused to the skin.

Lace took in a deep breath and turned away from the cave, deciding to leave the rest of the cave to the others. She felt the need to just watch the trees for the enemy. Hopefully the others wouldn’t find another corrupted body inside the cave. She had seen enough of those bodies at Haven when the Red Templars had attacked. It’d taken her weeks before she stopped thinking about those. Figures that the Commander would send the scouts straight back into that nightmare.

All part of the job, right?

“Clear!” a voice echoed from the cave. Lace peered back into the cave and checked the trees again before standing up from her cover. Another scout - a lanky elf who had the luck to be send here on her first mission – took position at the mouth of the cave. She looked pale, almost like she was about to puke right there. It made sense. She had probably never seen a body infected with red lyrium before.

Lace put on a smile and passed the elf on the way in, “You keep an eye out here, alright? You’re doing fine.” She saw the shaky nod from the newcomer, and then made the plunge inside. While the scouts had begun to set up torches along the wall of the mine, the darkness was thick. Thankfully, the body she had shot out front was the only one left. The rest of the scouts were still fully equipped, and Lace didn’t need to sidestep anymore bodies. That, at least, made things easier for her.

What didn’t make things better was the glow at the end of the tunnel. Lace began to see red flicker against the stone, as if someone had conjured a red wisp in the deepest chamber of the cave. The rest of the scouts simply tended to their torches and readied their weapons to guard the mine, but Lace couldn’t keep her eyes off the red. 

Once she walked into the largest chamber, Lace was bathed in red. Red glowing from crystals three times her height, protruding from the earth in jagged formations. Red that illuminated the room and outshined the torches that the other scouts held. Red that glowed from inside the bags that some carried as they collected the samples that Dagna requested. Red that spoke to her, that shifted around like something was crawling beneath the stone and watching them all.

“Harding?”

She jumped and turned her head to a blonde scout, completely unaware to just how wrong the cave felt, “Yes, what is it?”

“We haven’t been able to find a one-pound crystal yet. Can you help?”

Lace’s eyes lowered at the voice. The one-pound shard of lyrium, one of the many missives that Dagna had given them. She had worry in her voice when she had relayed it to Lace, warning the various side effects that they were all-too-familiar with.

“Of course,” she answered with a nod, “I’ll take the right side.”

Lace walked along the edge of the cavern, looking around at the jagged crystals and being careful not to get near any of them. After seeing them scattered all over the Emprise and seeing just how _wrong_ they looked amongst the Orlesian landscape, she had hoped she would never get near them again. Apparently, scouting also included gathering the stuff. 

Her foot nudged something, and she looked down to see a smooth piece of red lyrium on the ground. It looked right, around the size of the shard that Dagna wanted to experiment on. 

She remembered what Dagna had told her – all of the scouts. 

_Use gloves. The lyrium has this really strange effect on skin contact, kind of like a rash only not so – well…just don’t let it on you. Also, make sure you’re not around it too long. That…actually isn’t good advice since the mine is around a week away and so you’d be spending a week with it. At least take shifts with them! This…isn’t all that comforting, is it?_

Lace reached out with her gloved hand and picked up the shard. It felt about a pound, so just what Dagna would need. Hopefully, it meant leaving this Maker-forsaken place.

Scratching filled her ear.

A hand grabbed her shoulder.

She grunted, pivoting and pulling out a dagger on instinct. The crystal tumbled from her hands and clinked against the stone. Lace focused on the darkness. 

Nobody.

Lace paused, taking another quick look around. Her eyes hadn’t fooled her. Nothing was there; the only other scouts were too far away to have grabbed her. She slowly sheathed the dagger and lowered her eyes to the crystal, which was still pulsing red.

 

It was just as the scouts entered the gates of Skyhold when Lace noticed the buzzing that lay under her hearing. It was not an intrusive noise that prevented her from hearing everything else, but a noise that was omnipotent over anything else. When the talking stopped, the buzz remained. When the scouts moved towards the Undercroft, buzzing replaced the soft ambiance of Skyhold. When Dagna began to gush over the various finds, Lace could still hear the buzz accenting every high and low note.

_S…_

Lace closed her eyes as she lined up with the other scouts, letting the cool air wash over her. It wasn’t like this in the rest of Skyhold. Cold. Windy.

_H…a…_

She took in a deep breath, and the buzzing snapped into her hearing.

“Scout Harding!”

“What?!” Lace snapped.

It was as if her vision suddenly came back. She had been watching, but not really seeing the way Dagna looked at her – _examined_ her – with an analytical eye. She hadn’t seen the other scouts turn to look at her with worry.

Lace faltered, straightening, “I…I’m sorry. Don’t know what came over me.”

“Right…” Dagna responded hesitantly as she looked back over towards the other scouts, “Anyway, thank you all for the finds! This will definitely help out with what we’re trying to do.” The cheerful dwarf’s words were a little emptier than usual as she gestured for the other scouts to leave. Lace remained at attention, her eyes locked on Dagna. As the last of the scouts left, Dagna stood closer to Lace and looked her over.

“You still have it.”

“What?” Lace tilted her head. The buzzing grew stronger.

“The shard. Your hand has been in your pocket the entire time. You don’t necessarily do that. Keep your hands in your pocket, I mean. Not that I’ve been observing, mind you. Well…maybe a little. Anyway, your hand,” Dagna held out her hand. Lace hesitated, not wanting to comply for a split second. Dagna’s smile was the same as always, but her eyes were sharp. She knew that if she did not take out the hand, Dagna would probably force it out. Though Dagna spent most of her time in the Undercroft, Lace knew that she would be able to put up a fight.

Lace shakily took out her ungloved hand, which was tightly wrapped around the large, red crystal.

“That’s the large one,” Dagna gazed at it for a moment before meeting Lace’s eyes again, “I know how to handle it. Could you hand it to me?”

Lace felt the scratching in her head come to a crescendo as she slowly loosened her grip on the crystal. It took everything in her willpower to lift up her arm to Dagna’s. Every finger loosening on the smooth crystal was torture. Every slide of her finger against it was heaven, and the sweetest feeling welled in her stomach at every additional touch.

“Lace…”

The scout broke out of her stupor, realizing just how long she had stood there, crystal outstretched with her fingers rubbing it over and over again. As Lace looked at Dagna with anger borne from interruption, she slowly began to realize just what was happening. Dagna looked serious. Even when handling these things, she was chipper and happy because everything was _safe_ and she knew how to handle it in _just_ the right way. 

Dagna was serious. Something was wrong. Something was wrong with Lace.

It was the lyrium.

Lace dropped the lyrium into Dagna’s carefully gloved hand. The arcanist smiled gently as she turned to place the shard somewhere safe as Lace just stood in her spot, arm still held out in the same position. 

“There we go. This will definitely help out. Though I never thought that red lyrium was this dense. Maybe I can see just how that work…maybe it’s the corruption or the…” Dagna turned to see Lace standing, a lost expression on her face.

“I…I didn’t realize…” Lace stuttered out. 

Dagna smiled, “It’s a simple mistake. Come on, let’s get you out of here. I know that fresh air and plenty of distance really helps get the symptoms down.” She walked over to Lace and gently wrapped her hand around the scout’s outstretched hand. They stood there for a while, with Dagna watching her face as if she was asking for permission to proceed. When Lace simply stared, Dagna began to lead them out of the Undercroft.

“Don’t you have research to do?” Lace asked quietly as they began to climb the stairs.

“It’s only some simple tests before I start making it, and since the Commander doesn’t know that you guys have come back yet I’m pretty sure I can help out. I know that the red lyrium is rough for those effected. And…I also want to make sure you’re okay.”

“Really, now?” Lace replied, her head beginning to clear as she followed.

“Really.” 

Dagna didn’t speak until the two reached the entrance bridge of Skyhold, where the air was cool and the horizon stretched on for a long while. It was after some silence that Dagna returned to her usual bubbly self. Lace simply let the cold and the voice soothe her mind. There was simply no other way Lace would have wanted to be healed.


End file.
